Today Google is launching Flight Deals, an AI-powered flight search tool. It’s rolling out over the next week and you can access it either at its dedicated webpage, or in the top left menu on Google Flights.
Initially, it’s only available in the US, Canada, and India, and will be in beta “to gather feedback and explore how AI can improve travel planning”, Google says. The company also explains that Flight Deals is “designed for flexible travelers whose number one goal is saving money on their next trip”.
The interface is chatbot-like, so all you need to do is describe when, where, and how you want to travel in natural language, “as though you’re talking to a friend”, and Flight Deals will take care of the rest.
The point is for you not to have to manually play with different dates, destinations, and filters in order to find the cheapest flights. Instead, the AI will do that for you in the background and then give you a neat presentation of what it’s found.
Example searches Google gives include “week-long trip this winter to a city with great food, nonstop only”, or “10 day ski trip to a world-class resort with fresh powder”, but of course you can ask for anything and see how it goes.